Call of Cthulhu is a dark ride through a mad, cosmic horror nightmare with a paranormal detective story as your vehicle. Occasionally poor level and encounter design can make the eerily atmospheric road a little bumpy, but the engaging mystery and an intriguing utilization of RPG mechanics make it one of the more enjoyable Lovecraftian games in years.

Call of Cthulhu is a thrilling experience from start to end. The monsters may be a little lackluster, but the writing, puzzles, and characters are all interesting enough to keep you going until the very end. While the graphics are disappointing, the art style, vocal work, and atmosphere do enough to make up for it. Fans of horror or mystery will find plenty to love here.

Call of Cthulhu is an interesting retelling of H.P. Lovecrafts famous story. The game mixes aspects of detective- and horror games and does it well. Fear plays an extra factor as well throughout the story. The fun only gets spoiled by some small mistakes.

At the end of the day, Call of Cthulhu is a pretty fun game. I enjoyed my time with it throughout and it really had me going every time I booted it up. Sure, it’s not the best looking or the smoothest playing game, but it has the atmosphere and some interesting mechanics that I think any horror fan should check out. I was expecting something completely different from what I had thought this game to be and what I got, I realized I liked way more that what I expected.

Horror fans, heed the Call of Cthulhu and plunge yourself into an expertly produced Lovecraftian mystery in a finely paced, hybridized adventure/RPG package that, while mostly linear, delivers more depth than its contemporary genre rivals.

While you’re out investigating the deaths of Sarah Hawkins and the men in her life, always remember, run and hide if you have to. There are no usable weapons, there are some in the story but not for you to physically use on Cultists. You are only armed with your mind, your thoughts, and a raised perception of the world. Do not try to fight. Just try to keep your wits about you. The Great Old One stirs. Sleep tight.

Although the latest entry in the Call of Cthulhu universe is not a perfect one, every little bit of it stays true to the H.P Lovecraft stories, and that’s the most important thing for the fans of the series.

Call of Cthulhu doesn't deliver in several departments (the technology, as well as some of the gameplay elements are rather poor), but a superb atmosphere, a good storyline and a few great ideas make this game what it is - a solid piece of entertaining code. I had fun and rooted for Edward during his crazy investigation. If you feel the call, answer it.

The primary problem with 2018’s Call of Cthulhu is simply that it’s a Cthulhu game, done as straight as it possibly can be. In a game that’s mostly about its story, it’s a detriment that its story is thus extremely predictable.

On one hand, Call of Cthulhu is able to drag the player into an adventure with a dark and oppressive atmosphere, in which nobody really seems to be on our side, and curiosity can turn out to be our worst enemy. On the other hand, the little care given to some aspects of the game and the implementation of certain mechanics transform this game into a missed opportunity to celebrate the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Overall, I liked Call of Cthulhu a fair amount. I enjoyed the story, the atmosphere, and the environments. It’s a walking simulator for the most part, sure, but it’s a solid one. Although I can’t recommend it at launch due to price, fans of story-based gaming experiences will likely find a lot to like about Call of Cthulhu. Just don’t go in thinking it’s a stealth RPG and keep your expectations in check. If you can do that, you’ll likely have a good time.

Call of Cthulhu has a very engaging atmosphere and story telling, adopting successfully the Lovecraftian Mythos, but messes things up when trying to insert gameplay mechanics like stealth and shooting. It should have focused more on puzzles, investigation and light RPG elements. Technically the game looks aged -something we could have overlooked- but the 45 euro price has no place for lenience.

Call of Cthulhu sadly doesn't live up to either its literary or pen-and-paper heritage. The setting, atmosphere and some of the voice acting are impressive, but the detective gameplay is shallow and fairly linear, and any other gameplay aspects feel buggy and tacked on.

Call of Cthulhu is an ode to Lovecraft and fantastic literature, a success in terms of atmosphere with a pleasant artistic part. Sadly, the game is too weak technically speaking. The main quest is interesting but players in search of an RPG with a bit of freedom will probably realize too soon that the game is actually a very linear experience.

Although there are a few environments in the game that feel fully realized, and sections of story and dialogue that hint at a much more satisfying gameplay experience, Call of Cthulhu only sporadically engages with the imagination of Lovecraft and too often seems like a sketch that needs to be more completely filled in, shaped and polished. Once again, the particular genius of Lovecraft has eluded us in the video game form.

The game tends to dole out the narratively driven elements of Edward’s sleuthing in frustrating half measures, before suddenly blooming into a straight-up survival-horror experience in its second half.

Call of Cthulhu is an undeniably fun adventure game with some great ideas, cool stealth moments, and it never devolves into a shooter like Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth did. However, it also wastes its sanity mechanic, and the second half of the game consists of smaller and smaller locations that seem in a rush to get to an abrupt ending. The first few hours of the game are fantastic, but the rest feels like the team were forced to cram around 20 hours of exciting adventure-RPG gameplay and story into just 4 hours. The story skips to the end, the characters change instantly, and then the credits roll without the name “Cthulhu” even being mentioned. A huge disappointment.

What started out as a promising, unnerving recreation of a tabletop RPG became a rushed, unfocused mess racing to the finish line that leaves players’ input almost meaningless. Call of Cthulhu is a dressed-up horror walking simulator that pitched itself on misleading terms, bungling its story while being light on gameplay or its RPG roots.

It’s not so much that Call of Cthulhu is irredeemable as much as it feels flawed. Less than the sum of its parts, I’d say. Any one aspect of Call of Cthulhu sounds intriguing in isolation, but put them all together and it’s a mess of disparate elements, all fighting for control.

Call of Cthulu is a deeply disappointing game, because those opening hours showed such promise. If developer Cyanide had just stuck to the bits that work – the investigation – we’d have ended up with a better game. Instead of descending into madness, it descends into tedium.

Listen, if you like crawling around in the dark in an asylum, play Outlast. If you like detective games with weird facial animation, play L.A. Noire. If you like the Call of Cthulhu TRPG, keep playing that.

Call of Cthulhu (2018) is easily the best game based on the H.P. Lovecraft mythology that has ever seen the light of day! The story itself isCall of Cthulhu (2018) is easily the best game based on the H.P. Lovecraft mythology that has ever seen the light of day! The story itself is gripping, as well as the setting, narrative structure, presentation, dialoges, atmosphere, investigation style and mechanics are superb! The voicing is very good, too! Well, the graphics may be not the best you can expect from a game in 2018 sometimes, but that does not matter, since they are good enough.…Full Review »

Call of Cthulhu
From Chilling to painstaking
Call of Cthulhu is a 7 and a half hour long first person adventure game where you plays asCall of Cthulhu
From Chilling to painstaking
Call of Cthulhu is a 7 and a half hour long first person adventure game where you plays as private detective Edward pierce in 1924 Boston as he investigates the death of the Hawkins family
The game starts out super creepy and mysterious, dead sharks and whales all over the place, an island that feels like a ghost town just waiting to smack you with some Scooby doo mysteries to solve, I was instantly sucked in…
And this type of game needs to pull you in with its atmosphere and story.. Because there is no combat aside from a tiny section towards the end that I won’t show for spoiler reasons. .but it’s all about exploring and investigating, finding items and clues, talking to different characters to solve the mystery of what happened to the Hawkins family and what’s the deal with these creepy paintings that’s all over the island…
As you play through the game you’ll unlock points to increase your ability to lock pick for example or unlock new dialog options to help guide you towards one of this games multiple endings.. Your choices do matter here... down to the books in the world that you read…
Which are worth seeking out as they can increase progression for your skills of medicine and occultism…
as you explore and search for clues there will be moments of piecing together a scene batman style…
I was just so in love and intrigued with this game…
Until about hour 2… this is when the game just loses control, goes all over the place and just feels completely unfocused and like a chore to get through…
so much sneaking around places, constant plot twists.. And when I mean constant I mean constant… and it’s like the same plot twist over and over and over and over... again for spoiler reasons I won’t say what the plot twist is... but its done with literally every character you come across in the game so by the games end I was completely confused, not understand what’s going on, which characters were still around, why they were around, how they are important for any of this..
it’s just a mess and it’s a shame because of how strong this game starts out…
Call of Cthulhu could’ve been a great condensed 5 hour game, but there seemed to be an obsession with let’s make this game longer just because, lets constantly throw in the same plot twist and reuse areas the player has already seen just to make the price point seem justifiable
Don’t get me wrong, I still think Call of Cthulhu is creepy and worth playing…
It’s just that I believe once you start to feel like you’re over it.. You’re not missing out on much if you chose to just walk away
I give Call of Cthulhu
a 6.5/10…Full Review »